On the evening of April 13, 2024, in Independence, Autauga County, Alabama, 35-year-old Melissa Sarah Bishop Banks was found dead inside a County Road 40 home from a gunshot wound after a domestic dispute. She worked as a nurse at Prattville Junior High and is survived by her son Greyson Kamerow, her parents, and a sister. Deputies from the Autauga County Sheriff’s Office were called about 10 p.m. and discovered her body on arrival.

Investigators identified her husband, Christopher Banks, as responsible for the shooting; he fled the scene and was later located in neighboring Dallas County, where authorities say he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The incident was ruled a murder-suicide and was reported as the county’s first homicide in two years.

If anyone knew Melissa, her family, or has information about that night, please come forward.